


He Lights Another Cigarette

by afterafternoons



Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: All they do is fight, Campbell Soup, M/M, Marvin is in Advertising, Whizzer is a Photographer, Whizzer is a smoker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 13:33:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15486924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afterafternoons/pseuds/afterafternoons
Summary: title is taken from whizzer going down - in trouserswhizzer tries to quit smoking and works with marvin to complete a deadline.





	He Lights Another Cigarette

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The Gays In The Band GC](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=The+Gays+In+The+Band+GC).



> another idea brought to me by twitter! i had written a little unpublished piece about whizzer quitting smoking some time ago, but i've decided to combine it now with the newfound fact that marvin worked as an advertising agent. whizzer is still a photographer. the two have to work together on a project amidst one of the rockier parts of their relationship.

       Whizzer Brown was comfortable in his sexuality. He was as open about it as society would allow in 1960's New York, but he certainly didn't try to avoid the truth. He didn't choose to dwell on it either, he just lived his life, of which was currently in organized chaos. Whizzer liked to be in control of a situation, but working with Marvin was obscenely uncontrollable. And he only had to do so by unfortunate design. Whizzer couldn't just decline the job offer either, it wasn't Marvin who was depending on him, it was whoever had hired the pair to execute their vision. So, Whizzer controlled the things before and after the working hours. He stopped at the same Soda & Cigar shop on his way to work and he had enough self control to leave Marvin when the work day came to a close, despite any protests from his former lover. 

       The Soda & Cigar shop Whizzer frequented was owned and run by a man named Harold. Harold was a big, meaty, sweaty man with a New Jersey accent who looked like he belonged behind a deli counter, but he was nice and more than that he was accepting. He was also notably not Whizzer's type. Whizzer was tall and broad shouldered, but he was also slender and loose limbed. For whatever reason going into the little corner store always had him trying to act more macho than he really was and his leather jacket and aviator shades only helped so much. 

       "Whizzer!" Harold greeted with a hearty laugh. The two were undeniably friends, but not the kind that hung out after work hours. The extent of their friendship was purely when Whizzer stopped into buy something. 

       "Harry." Whizzer greeted, hanging his shades from his shirt as he sidled up to the counter. He pushed his camera bag onto the counter, fishing for his wallet out of his back pocket as he pointed behind Harry to the pack of cigarettes he wanted. "I'll take an unfiltered pack of KOOLs, a Big Hunk and a Sugar Daddy."

       "A Big Hunk and a Sugar Daddy?" Harold hummed teasingly as he punched the numbers into the cash register, "For you or the boy?"

       Whizzer humored him with an eye roll, "The boy. Scratch the KOOLs, what do you have with a baseball card?" 

       "A baseball card?" Harold echoed, turning to look at his cigarette display, "Lucky Strike and Camel." 

       "Unfiltered?" Whizzer double checked, "I'll take a pack of Camels."

       "That'll be 65 cents, but I'll need to see some ID." Harold replied, setting the pack of cigarettes onto the counter as Whizzer stooped to pick up the candy bars from the display in front of the counter.

       This kind of back and forth small talk and teasing was comfortable for Whizzer, it was controlled, it was routine. Perhaps more importantly, no one was being weird. By 'no one' he meant Marvin wasn't there to make things weird or uncomfortable or awkward. So, he rolled his eyes again and offered up his ID as he set his money on the counter. "You only ask because you like to laugh at my ID photo." 

       Harold offered the customary laugh in response as he took the money and put the receipt in the bag with Whizzer's things. "How're things with Marvin?"

       Whizzer let out a humorless laugh as he gathered his things and put his sunglasses back on, "He's a pain in my ass."

       "You've been saying that since you met the man." Harry said pointedly as Whizzer shrugged the camera bag onto his shoulder.

       "And I've meant everything I said about the man." Whizzer replied, pulling open the door. 

       "You once said you loved him." Harold reminded him.

       "Goodbye, Harry." Whizzer waved. While he wasn't happy about Harold's last comment, but he had a point. He mulled over the conversation as he set off down the street towards Marvin's house. Each had their own offices, but both had the luxury of working from home, admittedly Whizzer's home was above his work but that was beside the point. 

* * *

       On days where Jason knew Whizzer was coming he would occupy himself on the front steps in anticipation, listening to music on his Walkman as he avoided his father who was inevitably losing his mind inside. Next door neighbors, Cordelia and Charlotte were good about keeping an eye on Jason. Especially when he needed a place to reside as Marvin and Whizzer's arguing over their work escalated. 

       "Whizzer!" Jason grinned, tangling himself in his headphones as he struggled to ditch his Walkman on the steps to pull Whizzer into a hug. 

        Whizzer grunted, staggering backwards as Jason barreled into him but he smiled nonetheless trying to put out his cigarette before he gave Jason the candy he'd bought. Jason covered his mouth, coughing into his sleeve before taking the bag from Whizzer. "Sorry, buddy." Whizzer frowned. He was well aware that smoking was bad for him and for the people around him, but he and Marvin had been on an extended break and as a result his smoking hadn't had an effect on Jason for that duration. Now that he was back in Jason's life he was reevaluating both his choices and the situation in front of him, reminding himself of the immense love Jason had for him. He'd really missed him while he and Marvin weren't speaking, but he found himself not thinking about it so as to avoid upsetting himself. The best problems were the ones that resolved themselves, but rarely did that ever happen and that's how he got himself into this mess. 

        "Oh!" Whizzer added, quick to weasel his wallet out of his back pocket in search of the baseball card he'd set aside, "I got you this." 

        "Thanks, Whizzer!" Jason grinned, dishing out seconds on his hugs. He circled back to the apartment, Whizzer in tow as he stooped to pick up his things from the porch. With everything tucked precariously under his arms he moved to hold the door open for his returning friend. "Dad was gonna go ahead without you," Jason was quick to say as if he weren't supposed to say that, "he said you were taking too long." When Marvin answered the door, scowling at Whizzer, Jason took that as his cue to leave.

       "You were going to start without me?" Whizzer laughed humorlessly, but it wasn't the same humorless laugh he had shared with Harry. That had been playful banter, this was purely cold and calculated and perhaps they were both itching to start a fight. Whizzer was dramatic in the way he yanked up the sleeve of his suit jacket to check his watch, "I'm on time. Early, actually." 

        Marvin didn't have an effective response, standing in the doorway fumbling for words as Whizzer bullied his way in with his broad shoulders. As Marvin stood, sputtering, Whizzer laid his jacket over the couch and began to unpack his camera. "Well," Whizzer prodded, "are you going to just stand there? What's your brilliant idea?"

        "I haven't had a brilliant idea." Marvin replied sourly.

        Whizzer set his hands on his hips, looking down on Marvin with an eyebrow cocked. His height difference was spectacular for intimidation tactics. "Oh." He said sarcastically, "You haven't had a brilliant idea, but you were going to start without me."

        "Are you just going to repeat everything I've said back to me?" Marvin shot back, the door slamming behind him, "Hang up your coat."

        "Hang up my coat?" Whizzer laughed and maybe he _was_ just repeating everything to escalate the situation. "That's really rich coming from you, Marv."  

        "It's my house." Marvin replied sternly, but Whizzer felt in control of the situation if he left the coat strewn over the back of the couch as opposed to succumbing to Marvin's wishes and making the extra couple steps to hang the coat up. So he engaged in the stare off before he left the coat and stalked off towards the kitchen where they'd be working. If Marvin wanted the coat hung up that badly, and he hadn't been big on picking up after himself before, he would have to do it for himself. 

        "What're we doing?" Whizzer asked, looking at everything Marvin had laid out on the table. When it came down to it, he could table a majority of his aggression to get the job done.

        "Soup." Marvin answered, "Campbell Soup." 

        "So easy Marvin could fucking make it." Whizzer suggested, waving his hand through the air as if he were spelling it out for Marvin. Marvin only glowered in response. "I have parameters," Whizzer continued, despite, "the ad can't only be directed to housewives. It can't put them down. It can't be overly manly, mainly because neither of us are and because they already did that with their Manhandlers ad. And I don't want it to be race specific. The less faux smiling people we have the better. I'm sick and tired of those ads." 

        "So you only want a bowl of soup?" Marvin deadpanned.

        "Sure." Whizzer shrugged, lighting a cigarette now that Jason had gone upstairs to avoid the back and forth bickering. "And a sandwich or something." Marvin shoved a piece of paper at Whizzer, covered in his chicken scratch. "Campbell puts more goodness in so you get more goodness out. . ." He read off looking to Marvin as he took a drag of his cigarette, "This is what they want written on the ad?"

         Marvin nodded in response. "So," he began looking to Whizzer to make sure he could get his piece in without being cut off, "you don't want to do an ad like their Manhandlers ad. You don't want to do an ad like their 'Just between us girls' ad. And you don't want smiling, happy children. You want a sandwich." 

         "I happen to know someone who's probably dying to make a sandwich," Whizzer hummed, discarding everything else Marvin had said, "given it probably won't taste good, but looks can be deceiving and her food always looks great." 

         "No." Marvin was quick to say, trying to step in front of Whizzer who'd already made a beeline for the door, "Absolutely not. We are not getting everyone involved in this."

         "She's a lot more bearable than you." Whizzer shot back, trying to bully past him like he had earlier, "Besides she loves me. Now would you move out of the goddamn way?"

         In the end Whizzer won, a rare feat in itself, but he'd been getting better at not accepting his losing as the final outcome. Marvin was obviously struggling to cope with this as he followed after Whizzer in a huff to Cordelia's doorstep. Whizzer rang the doorbell incessantly but that was kind of his trademark. 

        "Whizzer!" Cordelia beamed, quick to pull him into a hug after opening the door. The only person who hadn't greeted him like this all day had been Marvin. "Long time no see, are you two back together?"

        Whizzer laughed in response, "Absolutely not. Listen, we need your help."

        Marvin, feeling dejected and unnoticed, followed Whizzer inside as Cordelia waved them in. Being polite, Whizzer left his cigarette outside. He wouldn't smoke anywhere he didn't have permission, but if Marvin was going to revoke the permission he'd granted for his own house, Whizzer wouldn't listen. "Is something burning?" He spoke up while Whizzer explained his vision. 

         "Oh!" Cordelia remembered, running back towards the kitchen. She returned sheepishly, "It's looking like a take-out night again." 

         "Whizzer makes a fabulous linguine." Marvin offered only to be glared at by Whizzer who was quick to return a smile to Cordelia.

         "I'd love to make some for you and Charlotte." He said, again with his parameters and his control and his excluding Marvin. 

         "Oh, no." Cordelia shrugged off the offer, "Charlotte and I have been eyeing a new place that just opened up, but thank you. So . . . you want me to make a sandwich?"

         When she said it like that, Whizzer felt like maybe he'd made a mistake coming to Cordelia for help when a) the two men were fully capable of making a sandwich and b) all he'd really wanted was a buffer between himself and Marvin. "How about I help you?" He asked, "We'll make a lunch spread. They've got a ton of different 'soup for lunch' ads." 

       The end result was a couple sandwiches that looked a hell of a lot better than they tasted all done up in cling wrap, next to a can of Campbell's and garnished with dinnerware and a plate of varying fruits from Cordelia's counter. Whizzer took a couple pictures from varying angles before he'd come to the conclusion that they were missing something. "It needs a note," he decided, "you made lunch for your kid, your husband, your wife, your friend . . . your Marvin, whomever. They just need instructions to heat up the soup. Do you have a post-it note?" 

        Cordelia rifled through her kitchen's junk drawer, returning with a pen and the little pad of paper. Whizzer scrawled out something legible and perhaps most importantly for their advertisement - relatable.  After a couple more pictures were taken, Whizzer excused himself back to the front porch to finish off the cigarette he'd ditched. He promised to return the following day with the printed pictures and he'd gathered his things and left like he'd promised himself earlier in the day. He had enough self control to keep himself from indulging in any more fights with Marvin that would somehow only make him want to stay. Their chemistry and their tension was hard to navigate. For whatever reason he loved to get Marvin riled up. 

* * *

       Whizzer had spent the rest of his night thinking and when he made his daily trip to Harold's the following day, he ended up surprising his friend as he slid a pack of chewing gum onto the counter. "Is this it?" Harold asked cautiously as he watched Whizzer chew at his fingernails. 

       At first, Whizzer hadn't caught the question, too wrapped up in his own head, but when everything registered he ended up sliding another Sugar Daddy and Big Hunk onto the counter to complete his purchase, to which Harold asked his question again. "Yeah." Whizzer answered definitively, having left his cigarettes at home, "That's it." 

       "15 cents." Harold replied, "Who broke you?"

       Whizzer slid his change onto the counter, "The boy."

       "Good kid." Harold smiled. 

       Whizzer shook his head with a small laugh, "Yeah. Not too good at baseball, though. I keep collecting these cards for him. He's got his first game of the season later today, I'm thinking I'll go if Marvin and I don't kill each other first."

       "You won't kill each other." Harold promised, handing the bag over the counter with the receipt, "You guys only go at it like cats and dogs because you love each other."

       "You keep saying that, Harry." Whizzer said with a small smile as he headed for the door.

       "Someone's gotta remind you." He nodded as Whizzer left with a small wave. 

* * *

       "What are you doing here?" Trina hissed from the bleachers as Whizzer hung his sunglasses from his shirt. Whizzer spared a glance in her direction after waving at her son out on the field, this being the first time they'd seen each other in months really. 

       "Jason asked me to come." He confessed, looking to the field as he chewed the gum that was keeping his mind occupied. He'd told Jason earlier about his influence. About why he'd decided to stop smoking and that it had everything to do with the young boy. He'd thanked Jason and they'd shared a good hug, probably one of their best, but because they'd finally realized that they depended on one another.

       "You chew like a cow." Trina criticized.

       "Nice to see you too, Trina." Whizzer smiled as he shuffled into the bleachers, the only free spot in front of Marvin. 

       "How'd the ad turn out?" Cordelia whispered, leaning in to greet Whizzer. Charlotte offered a squeeze of his shoulder in acknowledgement, too enraptured by the train wreck playing out before them to say anything. 

       Whizzer looked to Marvin with a shrug, "I think it looks nice."

       "It looks nice." Marvin conceded, "You look nice."  

       Whizzer rolled his eyes, turning back to the game but he wasn't mad about the comment Marvin had made. Not really. He was too busy thinking about what Harold had said earlier. That fighting was, perhaps, how he and Marvin displayed their affection. He wasn't prepared to completely forgive Marvin, but he was willing to ease back into whatever spark they had - if it was still there and surely it had to be. This time he'd be prepared, with his parameters and his taking control of his own life instead of letting Marvin lead it for him. He figured he was ready for a second chance. 


End file.
